Shaun Edwards discusses the Wigan connections at the Rugby World Cup as he previews the upcoming tournament in France

The 56-year-old, who won plenty of silverware during his time at Central Park, switched codes after his playing career and is currently the defence coach for France.

Edwards is among a number of people with connections to his hometown who will be involved in next month’s Rugby World Cup.

“They’re competitive lads from Wigan,” he said.

“Rugby league is the main sport, but rugby is rugby- and an attitude to win and be a good teammate is all vital.

“They’ve come from a successful team. People would want to buy into the Wigan ethos that we had at the time, and a lot of sides have done that.

“To win eight challenge cups on the bounce is not easy- you need to have strength in character.

“The club has also been successful since, and it shows the competitive attitude that we have.”

Edwards states he faced initial hurdles when making the move to France, but believes success on the pitch has helped him to settle.

“Everything has difficulty with it,” he added.

“I had to move my family over and put my young children into new schools- and we had the Covid pandemic as well, so it wasn’t comfortable at times, but we have gradually grown to get used to it.

“Winning the Six Nations was a great thing, and then going 14 matches unbeaten was very rewarding.

“I’m now comfortable speaking to the players and doing my presentations in French- I was determined to do that.

“I've been doing lessons throughout this period.

“People who have been coached by me know I try to keep the number of words to a minimum.

“Even in English, I try not to confuse the players by speaking too much.”

The Rugby World Cup gets underway on September 8, with hosts France taking on New Zealand at the Stade de France.

“It’s not far off now,” Edwards stated.

“We’re just hoping we don’t get any more injuries. We’ve been hit pretty severely losing Romain Ntamack- you just need to dust yourself off and get on with it.

“He’s a very popular member of the group, so it was a terrible day, everyone was gutted for him, the team and the supporters.

“As a coach you need to be positive in training to help the players who could step into that position.

“Everyone is going to have injuries and have hardship along the way- we’re no different.

“The opener against New Zealand is a huge game, they’re the form team in the world.

“For me the most vital match is Italy.

“If we lose against New Zealand, but beat Italy, and win our other games, then you still qualify for the quarter-finals.

“Everywhere we go in France at the moment there’s people beeping their horns and queuing up to see the players.

“We’ve been preparing in areas that aren’t massively populated, and every time we get on the bus there’s fans clapping you and wishing you well for the day which is nice.

“Rugby is popular over here at the moment, particularly in the south.”